Cultural Show at Soloma, Kuala Lumpur

After a sumptuous buffet dinner at Soloma , see food details here , guests were treated to an exquisite cultural show.




The performers were the same people who welcomed the guests at the entrance of the restaurants.








These twin dancers looked so familiar to me. I wonder if they were the same ladies in one of my belly dancing dvds. gotta check it out later.








This dance is tinikling or singkil to us Filipinos. There were so much similarities in many ways, truly one Asia.








Followed was audience participation. My friend Jay was pushing me to join, you know for photo ops, but I saw how the western guests were so excited so I gave way.




At this point, the host was encouraging the guests to come up on the stage for photo ops. Hey, look at this table of - spot the common denominator bishop baldness. Again the western guests hopped first on the stage. Very enthusiastic audience, so nice!




Can you spot my friend  here? She's beside the man with big white hair. I had my spot, but I looked so darn awful, so I'd rather not post it. It was a great night!

Sights and Colors of KL Tower

From my hotel in KL, Malaysia, I saw another captivating structure_ the Menara Kuala Lumpur or as it is now being popularly called _ the KL Tower.




As it turned out, our private tour had scheduled KL Tower as our first destination that afternoon. How lucky I could get! Our guide bought the tickets and told us to wait for few minutes so we could meet up with our supposedly tour buddies who missed the ride from the hotel to the tower.




While waiting, we chose to check the garden at the foot of the KL Tower. The tower by the way is planted on a hill which makes it more statuesque up close ( to its foot, I mean..). I almost stiffed my neck from looking up, astounded by the height of the tower.




KL Tower Facts by Wikipedia


KL Tower is the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world.

The structure is divided into 5 basic sections:

1. The foundation base houses 3 basement floors for safety purposes, storage and maintenance work.
2. The touristic building bears the administration office, souvenir shops and the 146 meters pedestrian mall with cascading pools.
3. The tower shaft comprises 22 levels with 4 elevators and flights of stairs with a total of 2,058 steps.
4. The tower head holds the public observation platform (276 m) and revolving restaurant as well as the telecommunication and broadcasting stations.
5. The antenna mast crowns the tower and is specially utilized for telecommunication and broadcasting transmissions.

Outside, it's amazing to watch how this sky-high structure changes its color in a flash like a chameleon adapts its color to its environment. It was so awesome





Then it was time for us to get more dazed. The main lobby at the upper ground floor of the tower is Malaysian Islamic interior-ed.




As quick as we entered the speedy elevator, we found ourselves at the observatory deck sprightly.




I found myself smacked in the middle of busy visitors enjoying the view up here.




















Unending vast scale of panoramic sights took our breaths.. we wanted to stay longer but our dinner sched was waiting.




For the rest of the night, I was able to enjoy the chameleon colors of the KL Towers.

Petronas Twin Towers @ Night

I thought I've  "seen" the Petronas Towers when we visited them that morning. Already, I was amazed by the beauty of the twins lit up by the bright sun at the early part of the day. After our dinner at Soloma Restaurant, something bright in the sky had caught my sight. The spires of the twin towers !!! They looked like tip icebergs, snowy blazingly!! I got excited and rushed our guide to bring us to the site.




Immediately our guide obliged and proudly brought us to a place where the wholeness of the gleaming towers could be best ascertained.




Definitely this was not the near front of the towers where we were trying to catch whole bodied photos of the structures that early morning of the same day and failed because we were too near. I guess, it was like across the street. We had not figured it out that morning thu'.




And there_ the Petronas Twin Towers, in full glory!!!




Soooo beautiful!!!!

Petronas Twin Towers

At last I came to see the "twins"_ Petronas Twin Towers. Not anymore the tallest buildings in the world (Taipei 101 is ), but still the tallest twin buildings in the world.




The two towers are connected by a skybridge. This skybridge is said to be the highest 2 storey bridge in the world. This can be found on the 41st and 42nd floors.




The Skybridge is open to all for free, but time was limiting to us. Everyday, thousands of visitors line-up to avail the free passes. So I wasn't able to go up there. Maybe next time;)




So as not to limit myself to the facade beauty of the towers, we went inside.








The interior is not as overwhelming as the view outside but has its own character




Now, looking at these photos..I'm a bit lost. I remember a mall beneath the towers, but got no trace of a mall in these photos. Wait, I'll check other photos.



There.. can you spot those shops at the back of that giant lift ? Most of them are branded shops. Suria KLCC, the mall, is one of the biggest in Malaysia.









Going back outside the towers, is the KLCC Park. It has incorporated light show, children's playground, a walking and jogging paths and wading pools.
This is also where you would insist on achieving a full bodied shot of the twins but 100% , amateur  photography would fail.

Later at night, a tour guide had brought us where we could savor the Petronas Towers in full glory_ coming next.

 

 

Kuala Lumpur.. quite like Manila

After the whole morning "payback- sleep", we woke-up around brunch time. We had scheduled paid tour arranged with the hotel in the afternoon, so the rest of the day before that_ was all on our own feet.

We decided to hit the shopping malls first ( SG friend loves to shop at KL where her SG$ is valued twice here and goods are a lot cheaper than SG.) so we were taking a cab. But getting a taxi here is not as easy and as safe in Singapore. Drivers in KL rarely use the meters and demand unreasonable fares. Similar taxi stories with Manila, but worser.




After few failed tries, we decided to just used the hotel car. Expensive but atleast a lot safer and lesser stressful than to deal with hard core taxi drivers on the road.




KL city roads look quite like Manila. Both are predominantly atop with MRT 's/LRT's. One train caught my fancy because it was a short train. Roughly only the size of two buses. That's short for a train, right?




Some mosques ascend from the side of the streets.








We got to the mall but.. not again!, it was still close. We headed to the Petronas Towers instead.

Swiss Garden Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

We arrived at Kuala Lumpur when the sun hadn't risen yet and darkness was yet the color of the day. We left Singapore late night with a plan to catch KL at the earliest so as to maximize time. But not that early! Early as in the hotel wouldn't allow us to check-in yet and we had to wait for like 3 hours in the lobby. It was past 3 am and the soonest they could accomodate us was at 6 am.

The VIP coach we took was un/fortunately so much ahead of our arrival time to KL. It came to me that KL was unlike Singapore, it was not safe to hit the road without the light of the sun especially for female tourists like us. So we stayed in the lobby until the hotel resto had opened for breakfast at around 6 am.








We took breakfast and headed back to the reception to check-in. By the way, we were staying at Swiss Garden International Hotel. We were supposed to stay at Impiana Hotel which is nearby to Petronas Towers, but failed to avail reservation.








Hotel facts : Swiss-Garden Hotel is strategically located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur between bustling Bukit Bintang and colourful Chinatown. The hotel was recently refurbished offering business and leisure travelers a refined experience with 310 guest rooms in warm earth tones, equipped with modern amenities for the ultimate ambiance.








Immediately, we ran to our room and hit the beds. The whole trip without sleep had taken its toll to us and our morning itinerary was canceled and posted the "don't disturb" sign at our door.




hotel website's photo



our actual room






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